what she did right to make all of her children be accepting of GLBT folk and gay rights. It was, in a way, a ludicrous question because she asked it over a family gathering that included a gay couple my age that she, my dad, and my aunt had adopted into our family. The obvious answer was right before us: Because our elders set a good example for us.
That example actually started decades before, when we were children. I never knew my parents to question the necessity of the civil rights movement. I grew up knowing it was the right thing for America and my parents actually had to work harder at explaining the nature of prejudice and hatred to us kids than they did the matters of color and inclusion. Same with religion; my parents passed their respect for the outsider history of the American Jew onto us kids. And, yes, we had friends of color and of varying religious backgrounds throughout my life.
I think the prejudice they faced growing up in large, proverty-stricken families, my paternal grandfather’s excommunication for marrying a Protestant woman and being declared dead to his Catholic family over that choice, and my mom’s early teen years as a polio victim were the formative experiences that determined their outlook. They had lived as outsiders. They understood the pain that came with it.
They identified as outsiders, even though nobody used identity language in the 1950s and 1960s. Then, as young adults, they also bore witness to the government’s first move towards civil rights justice: They were an USAF family during its decade of integration and the experience validated their growing sense of social justice.
My first exposure to the gay rights movement came when watching the evening news one night in the early 1970s. I don’t remember Stonewall specifically, but I do know I remember that the faces marching the streets were no different to me than those who marched for other causes. That their signs spoke of gay rights wasn’t at all different to me than those that called for women’s liberation or equal rights for all. From day one, it was a matter of civil equality and social acceptance. When Anita Bryant came along several years later, it only reinforced my views.
With that in mind, I’m going to spend the next days running links that respond to Lawrence v Texas. Oh, I’ll include a few of the more usual sexblog links, but I’ve had a lot of time over the last couple of days to look at the media response specifically. (What, with being a touch under the weather yet again.)
For starters, pause today, the 4th, and remember that it wasn’t always this free for GLBT Americans. How was then? Consider what John Rechy, largely considered to be the father of modern gay novel, and Village Voice executive editor Richard Goldstein have to say about it. Take a look at the Village Voice’s other articles associated with the ruling, too, while you’re at it.
Think about the way it was.
